Offering a bird bath to wild birds is a great way to attract them to your yard. Making a water source available, year round, can definitely increase the potential for more backyard activity.

Giving wild birds extra resources, like a bird bath, comes with responsibility. First and foremost, the bird bath must be clean.

I clean my bird bath daily (and my feeders at every refill). So when my family faced multiple illnesses this week, on top of an urgently scheduled surgery, I knew what I had to do — I had to dump my bird bath.

It’s important to know how to approach an active bird nest because if done improperly the tenants could be harmed. Here are suggestions on how to do it.

#1. Don’t be Sneaky

Do not sneak up on the nesting box. Make your presence known as you approach by saying something aloud. My go to is, “Sorry to disturb you friends. I’m here to check your nest.” Whatever works — avoid pishing.

#2. Tap, Tap, Tap

Next, give a gentle tap, tap, tap on the box. This will give a brooding parent time to flee if it chooses to do so.

Feathers set birds apart from any other animal on Earth. Plumage has a variety of important biological functions, including social signaling and survival.

Dimorphism

Differences in size, color, weight, and over all appearance are examples of dimorphism in birds. Birds that do not exhibit key differences in size, color, and over all appearance are considered monomorphic.

Monomorphism in Birds

An example of a monomorphic bird species is the American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos). These corivds look almost exactly alike. Mallards (Anas platyrynchus), however, look so different that they were once considered to be a different species of bird.